Point hack: free upgrade to Accor A|Club Platinum status
By David Flynn, November 28 2011
UPDATE | Some readers attempting to register their current A|Club membership for an upgrade are now getting the message that "the given promotion code does not exist", indicating that Accor has closed this deal.
But don't give up hope: the ability to create a brand new membership, which is instantly upgraded to Platinum, still exists – for now, at any rate!
1. On the lower-right of Accor's A|Club Flying Blue page, click the link to register for a free A|Club account.
2. This takes you to a web page written in French. Go to the very top-right corner of the page and use the drop-down menu to change the language to English.
3. Sign up for your new A|Club account and you'll be Platinum from the get-go!
4. If you're already an A|Club member and have some points sitting on your card, you can look into having those points transferred from your old account to the new one.
PREVIOUS | Want to score a free upgrade to Platinum status for your Accor A|Club account so you can enjoy added benefits at Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis hotels, among others?
The boffins at the FlyerTalk online community have stumbled onto an Accor promotion with the Flying Blue frequent flyer program of Air France / KLM which automagically transforms any level A|Club membership – even base-grade 'Classic' – into shiny Platinum.
Such status would usually require you to stay 60 nights at Accor properties or earn 25,000 A|Club points.
Accor's A|Club Platinum perks include double points for every stay plus, at Sofitel, Pullman and MGallery hotels, a free room upgrade (subject to availability), late checkout to 4pm plus "a room always available if you reserve at least thee days before your arrival" (click here to see a full list of Platinum privileges).
How do you take advantage of this gem of a deal?
1. Click to Accor's A|Club Flying Blue page, as shown below.
The page spruiks a new promotion which lets your A|Club points be automatically transferred to your Flying Blue account after each stay at an Accor property. Curiously, there's no mention of the Platinum upgrade... but fret not, this upgrade appears to be a hidden part of the deal!
2. Enter your current A|Club card number and your email address. If you're not aleady an Accor A|Club member you can sign up on the same page and still get instant Platinum.
(Note that when you click to sign up for a new account you'll be flung onto a web page written in French – go to the very top-right corner of the page and use the drop-down menu to change the langauge to English.)
3. Click submit and wait for the "Welcome as an A|Club Platinum member!" email to land in your inbox, followed by your new A|Club Platinum card around two weeks down the track.
Now how easy is that? We suggest you move fast, however – there's no telling when Accor might pull the plug on this just-discovered Platinum perk.
(Even if Accor rolls down the shutters you can still quality for Accor A|Club Platinum via Virgin Australia's Velocity Rewards program. Velocity Platinum members are eligible for free Europcar Privileges Privilege Elite membership, which in turn comes with a status-match to Accor A|Club Platinum, as we explain here.)
[Source: FlyerTalk]
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
08 Nov 2011
Total posts 121
Awesome! Just did it and worked for mine! Cheers ;-)
20 Apr 2011
Total posts 19
Just worked for me also. Thanks AusBT!!!
04 Nov 2010
Total posts 670
Me too! A few minutes ago I was 'classic' and now I'm platinum! Top stuff, thanks ABT! :)
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
21 Aug 2011
Total posts 9
fantastic!
05 Sep 2011
Total posts 65
Thanks AusBT
12 Jul 2011
Total posts 75
I can't believe this haha. I will believe it when I see the membership card!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
Nice one indeed, although I must admit Platinum with A-club is practically worthless compared to SPG or HH. Still, I do not look a gifted horse in the mouth! In terms of the Virgin Australia Velocity free membership, one would be better of going for a HH Diamond card (highest tier with Hilton) as opposed to the Europcar priviliges (depending ofcourse on your situation, if you rent cars every week and sleep at home the Europcar ooption might be best).
09 May 2011
Total posts 294
Luckily, you can apply for both -- you can pick a single car rental status match (Europcar) *and* a single hotel status match (Hilton). That gives you status with both A|Club and HHonors, which seems like a good mix to me.
fwiw, I've been an A|Club Gold member through Europcar for a while now, and it's reasonably useful -- there are far more Accor properties than Hiltons in Australia, and you can still get good room upgrades and late checkouts with A|Club, which for Velocity members *still* makes it a better choice than the IHG Priority Club option in terms of defined benefits.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
Thanks for the heads up Christopher, clearly I haven't taken full advantage of my newly minted Velocity Platinum status! HH Diamond is fairly good I must say and in Australia I tend to only visit Melbourne a lot (and stay at Westin as I value my SPG status most).
In my humble opinion, IHG Priority Club is only good when you are an Ambassador.
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2563
Yes, being able to choose Hilton or IHG as your Velocity hotel partner and still double-dip into A|Club via Europcar is the clever way to do this!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
01 Dec 2011
Total posts 2
they must have withdrawn it. I keep getting a message "promotion does not exist"
19 Nov 2011
Total posts 2
Yep - page no longer exists :(
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